So rewired my 'stang...and fail.

carlmcd

So I found a nice little '65 RI, white with the tortoiseshell, that I picked up for a song. Of course, it needed new tuners (one had a button that would just spin around the post), a setup (no big deal), and now all that's left is these stupid switches. If they click back at all the pickup is cut off, which while not entirely unexpected is still not something I want to deal with forever. So, two questions.

One, are these switches normal, or should I replace them? I'm talking like a millimeter of movement kills them, and there's very little force holding them against the pickguard (so they naturally just bounce back into the center position). But they both react the same, so I'm thinking these switches just suck in general? Are there any aftermarket switches that are better?

Two, I've decided I want to rewire this thing to eliminate the "both off" position. Because seriously, that's crazy talk. I was googling around for a wiring diagram that did what I wanted, and didn't find it (nor did I find it here). Apologies if it has been covered before, but here's what I came up with. I want to use one switch as a pickup selector (neck/both/bridge), obviously. I want to use the other to keep the in-phase/out-of-phase option (in/in/out). The first is easy, and covered in any number of diagrams out there anyway. I stared at the switches for a bit, and came up with this for the second:

So, did I miss anything? The bottom switch is doing nothing but selecting phase on the bridge pickup, then routing it to the pickup selector in parallel with the neck. Obviously the output on the right just goes off to the knobs as normal.

EDIT: Also, haven't pulled the pickguard and looked at this thing yet, so also curious if there's anything that's going to make this harder than it should be.

EDIT: I'm guessing I should also ground the second switch body...duh. Can just do that off the same tab that's wired to the first switch's body. Fixed the image.

EDIT: And it seems the wiring is correct, but my workmanship is bad. See new post. But the diagram above should work for what I'm doing.

Silenus

Can't help you out.

But since there's no other reply...

I've been looking for almost the same diagram as yours but then

for the second switch: bypass (with volume control)/normal /####ed wah

(I really like to get that ####ed wah as on my esquire)

P.S.: is your diagram above ok now ?

carlmcd

So finally got all the soldering done, everything put back together...and blah. Something's not making good connectinon, so my bridge pickup is flaky. I think it's actually the switch contacts themselves, either from flux or bending something or whatever. Could be one of the tabs, though. Either way, it ain't workin' right. However, when it does work (when the switch makes good contact) it sounds exactly as it should...so my design is right.

I'll probably just order up some new switches, and re-do it. I'll probably, oddly enough, be a little less strict in my soldering this time...I think the problem is that I was so worried about fluxing and tinning and getting everything just right that I over-did it. I mean, given what it looked like when I opened it, I shouldn't have worried so much. It looked like a drunken teenager had put it together.

Anyway, just wanted to update in case anybody ever looked at this diagram and wanted to actually try it. It works.